BUDAPEST: Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Wednesday called on Hungarians to “resist” Brussels as they once did Moscow nearly 70 years ago, commemorating the country’s 1956 anti-Soviet uprising.
The nationalist leader, who is Moscow’s closest ally within the EU and currently holds the bloc’s rotating presidency, has been amplifying fears of a war between the West and Russia, blaming the European Union and NATO for the tensions.
Orban, who has been in power since 2010, faces increasing pressure at home, particularly from Peter Magyar, a former government insider turned opposition leader.
In a speech to thousands in Budapest, Orban questioned, “Do we bow to the will of a foreign power, this time from Brussels, or do we resist it?” He urged a response as clear and resolute as that of 1956, stating, “For us, the lesson of 1956 is that we must fight for one thing: Hungary and Hungarian freedom.”
The 1956 uprising resulted in approximately 3,000 deaths and 20,000 injuries between October 23 and November 4, becoming a symbol of Hungary’s struggle against repression.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Orban has refused to send weapons to Kyiv, advocating instead for a swift ceasefire without preconditions. He cautioned that a “victory plan” proposed by Kyiv could lead to “Hungarians waking up to find Slavic soldiers from the East stationed on Hungarian territory again.”
